Dogs use their mouths to explore and chew on objects throughout their lives as a normal, genetically-driven behavior. A dog's teething stage, similar to a human's teething stage, is a time of increased chewing that can last for up to one year and chewing during that time relieves aching and builds up jaw muscles. Even after teething, however, dogs continue to chew. Chewing cleans teeth, decreases boredom, stimulates a dog's mind, and calms a dog. When no alternatives are available, dogs often chew on household objects such as furniture or shoes. Dog owners have thus long recognized the effectiveness of chewable toys as a source of pet happiness and a means of preventing their pets from chewing on furniture, shoes, and other valuable household objects.
Dog owners have also recognized that dogs enjoy playing by chewing on both frozen substances, which are helpful in decreasing swelling and relieving teething pain and soreness, and cloth. Dog owners have further recognized that dogs, like teething humans, seek to decrease swelling and relieve oral pain and soreness by chewing on available items and that frozen substances are especially well adapted to relieve such swelling, pain, and soreness, as well as prevent dry mouth and quench thirst. There are many toys that serve some of those functions, which toys must satisfy several criteria. First, the toy must be constructed of a chewable, nontoxic material that will not injure a pet or a person. Second, the toy must provide some means of decreasing swelling and relieving teething pain and soreness, as well as preferably cleaning teeth to prevent gum disease and infection. Third, the toy must be enticing to the dog that chews it.
Many chewable, non-toxic materials have been used in the fabrication of pet toys, most prominently rawhide, leather, vinyl, and heavyweight fabrics, such as denim. While such materials may be durable because of their weight and strength, they have concomitant drawbacks due to that weight and strength, as well as their hardness and stiffness. Such materials cannot be easily and effectively cleaned and may contain dyes, which may lead to staining of household objects or clothing when the toys are used both outside and inside. In addition, because of their hardness and stiffness, toys made of such materials can injure pets or people and break furniture if swung or thrown. Furthermore, such materials retain water quite poorly and have low specific heats. They therefore neither numb dogs' gums nor provide substantial relief from teething pain and soreness. Additionally, as a dog chews on and plays with toys made of such known materials, pieces of the toys may break off or the toy itself may disintegrate. Such disintegration generally makes the toys less enticing to a dog and messier for the dog's owner and, when pieces break off, creates a potential choking hazard to the dog. These pieces can also cut a dog's gastrointestinal lining, allow for the growth of infection-causing bacteria, or cause intestinal blockage. Finally, because of their hardness and stiffness, such materials generally irritate a teething dog's gums, do not provide relief from teething pain and soreness, and further do not clean a dog's teeth effectively.
Other materials that have been used in the prior art as dog toys include lightweight fabric and foam. Such materials generally lack the durability necessary for continued playing by dogs. Like heavier materials, they may be difficult to clean and may contain dyes, which may lead to staining of household objects or clothing. Also, as with heavier materials, as a dog chews on and plays with toys made of such known lightweight materials, pieces of the toys may disintegrate. Such disintegration generally makes the toys less enticing to a dog and messier for the dog's owner. In addition, while such materials tend not to irritate a dog's gums in the same manner as heavier weight materials do and can help clean teeth, they generally also retain water poorly and have low specific heats and therefore do not effectively numb a dog's gums to alleviate teething pain.